oral surgeon

Profit Motives in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Utilizing Sedation

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Recently on this site it was discussed how guidelines have come out from the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommending when deep sedation or general anesthesia is given to children in dental offices there should be two trained individuals present. One individual should provide the dentistry and the other individual is responsible to administer the sedation or anesthesia and to observe the patient for any adverse events. This goes against the single provider model that has been advocated by the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) and is typically utilized for wisdom teeth removal in the United States of America, where the oral surgeon performs both the dentistry and the administration of sedation or anesthesia. Some have criticized the AAOMS position of a single provider model for its focus on profit … Read more

Improving the Mental Health of Oral Surgeons

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Before on this site mental health of dentists has been discussed and particularly addressing mental health issues early on such as during dental education see for example the posts A Counseling Model for Dental Students, Designing a Predoctoral Dental Curriculum To Help With Therapy Issues such as Stress Management and Suicide Prevention, and Medical Students Are At Risk For Suicide. However, many oral surgeons are still afraid to own up to any mental health issues they may have. This is discussed in the editorial titled “Time to change the narrative” appearing in Oral Surgery in 2018 (vol. 11, pp. 97–97). The editorial discusses how oral surgery is increasing a stressful profession. This is because of increasing threats of litigation along with patients increasing having higher expectations of surgical outcomes. The traits that define a good surgeon are those who put … Read more

The Death Rate Among Patients being Treated by Oral Surgeons in Massachusetts

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In the past on this site death surrounding wisdom teeth removal and other dental procedures has been discussed. It has been estimated that the death rate in dentistry occurs in 1 out of every 400,000 cases. Due to a new article in 2019, the mortality rate in dentistry page at http://www.teethremoval.com/mortality_rates_in_dentistry.html has been updated.  This article is written by Wardius et al. titled “Outpatient Anesthesia Morbidity and Mortality Experience Among Massachusetts Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons” and published in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in 2019. It is worthwhile exploring the details of this article. The article discusses the results of a mailed questionnaire that was sent to active members of the Massachusetts Society of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons who practiced using the single–operator-anesthetist model in the years 2015 and 2016. A total of 288 oral and maxillofacial surgeons were included … Read more

Oral Surgery: Prepare Yourself for Post-Surgery Complications

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Do you need oral surgery? You have to prepare yourself before undergoing any oral surgery procedure to avoid complications. By preparing yourself, you can get the advantage of a speedy recovery. Oral surgeries involve a local or general anesthetic. These outpatient surgeries require you to consult top oral surgeons such as a teeth removal doctor in Dallas – Fort Worth. Before surgery, you have to make several preparations. Strictly following post-operative guidelines will help you avoid any post surgical complications and decrease the chances of infection. Discuss with Your Dental Doctor People often ignore the importance of meeting an oral surgeon before surgery. This meeting is necessary to understand the dental procedure. Carefully listen to his/her instructions about recovery time, anesthesia, and operation. You should discuss any undergoing medical procedure or a current health condition with your surgeon. He/she should … Read more

Insurance Companies Limiting Access to Opioids After Wisdom Teeth Surgery

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Recently on this website, two articles were published discussing possible opioid abuse stemming from prescriptions given after wisdom teeth surgery, see 1) Persistent Opioid Use After Wisdom Teeth Removal and 2) Opioid Prescriptions From Dental Clinicians for Young Adults and Subsequent Opioid Use and Abuse. The first article discussed a 2018 JAMA article which found that that those who filled an opioid prescription from up to 7 days before until up to 3 days after wisdom teeth removal were 2.69 times as likely than those who did not to continue to fill opioid prescriptions weeks or months later after the wisdom teeth surgery. The second article discussed a 2018 JAMA Internal Medicine article which found that being given opioids by a dentist or oral surgeon for those who had never previously used opioids had higher rates of opioid use at … Read more